by Rev. Paula Richards

The perfect invitation #29

Do you tend to plan everything out ahead of time? I know I sometimes do. If someone invites me somewhere, I usually play the game of at least “20 questions.” I want to know exactly what to expect. I guess I want to avoid surprises and feel safe. Lately, I’ve been trying to surrender each moment of my day to God’s direction. If God is pure love and only wants happiness for me, then I know I should be able to trust His guidance. Some days, I can’t go more than a few minutes before my “planning” brain takes over, but I’m gradually doing better.

Recently, I’ve sensed that I would be taking a trip that would be life changing in positive ways. Two weeks ago, a good friend invited me to join her and a friend on an eight day trip to the Pacific northwest. It will be the first time that I have ever gone on a trip with “the girls”, as opposed to a family trip that I carefully choreographed from start to finish. Being much more seasoned travelers than I am, they were happy to plan our itinerary, lodging and the like. And, for the first time in my life, I am happy to let them do that! In fact, I’m quite excited at the prospect of just getting on the plane and seeing where each day takes me. Maybe this new found sense of letting go stems from my recent practice with surrendering, but I think the main thing that keeps me from asking too many questions, or getting nervous about the cost, is knowing who invited me. My friend said that God told her to invite me along.

With that kind of invitation . . . . . how can I go wrong?

Let your spirit soar!PaulaArtwork: Release, SOLD

Advertisements

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

3 Responses

Hi Paula;
I thoroughly agree with “Let go, Let God”. When my children were young I had to plan ahead for little league, Pop Warner, dancing lessons and making it to rehearsals and games and still keep homework done and get myself to work on time. Now I don’t have those issues and can let my life be freer to move in the direction it is supposed to move. Writing, Spiritual and Music as well as keeping in touch with friends and travel. So when things come up ‘out of the blue’ I go with it knowing that, and trusting that, this is something new for me and it will be good.

I’m sure you will enjoy this sojourn or girls holiday. It can be a very enlightening experience to go with girlfriends as opposed to family. Very unique. Enjoy!!!!

I totally can relate to the 20 questions- that is probably what has kept me back from traveling and going places I am not familiar with. I will have to learn to surrender more as you say- and I love that your friend’s message was from God !! Will be anxious to hear about your trip and am sure you will have some lovely experiences to share when you come back 🙂

Here is a reply I received from someone about my last blog. Thought I’d share it with you. 🙂

Dear Paula

Have a wonderful time on your trip to the beautiful Pacific Northwest. (Did you know “Pacific” means “peaceful”.) I have travelled more in my life than I have stayed home — indeed, at this point I find the questions “Where are you from?” and “Where do you live?” very hard to answer.

Any adventure has inevitable logistic tangles — no matter how well you plan. I’ve found that sometimes God seems very busy and can’t always pay attention to the details of my life. So I will offer, in advance of your trip a little strategy that I’ve found useful.

Let’s say, for example: You are in a train station in a city in central Mexico — but your bus got there 2 hours late and it’s 11 o’clock at night. Your train has got and there’s not another until the next day. Your traveling companion was supposed to speak Spanish, but doesn’t really. The pay phones use some strange card that you haven’t got. No one is around to ask questions of — even if you did speak a common language —- and you really wish you could find a hotel.

In that moment, mentally step back take a deep breath and say to yourself —- Am I ok right now? Am I cold? Am I starving? If the worst happens and I have to spend a night in the train station, will it be the end of me?

Then, go deeper, if you can and say, “Isn’t this kind of funny?” “Won’t this make a good story?” or “Hey, I’m having an adventure!” (Remember Bilbo’s definition of adventure in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” —- Adventures are nasty uncomfortable things that make you late for dinner.)

Take another deep breath and think about how good and powerful you feel right then at that moment — Ok, you’re a little sleepy and your back aches and your feet feel squashed —- but really in there somewhere, whenever there’s trouble, you can tell your spirit is really very alert and alive, right?

Then, do the yoga thing, where they tell you to breath and smile through the hardest poses —- and try, be calm and polite, ask strangers for advice if you see any. (If you approach them, you know they aren’t bad guys who prey on the troubled. —- Use you instincts to help you chose who to approach.) You might have to try several times before you find a solution —- it might come all at once or piece by piece —– but usually it comes.

And then, you will feel wonderful. You will feel more grateful and happy then if everything had gone according to plan. You will feel proud of yourself for having gotten through it. You will feel that the world is full of kind strangers. Then ,breath again and enjoy and tell yourself, “I must remember this feeling.”

(In the case of midnight at the train station. We eventually decided to try to decipher the phone book. We found a list of hotels. We picked out one that looked large — thinking they might speak English and might have someone at the desk late at night. Moments after we found it, a woman walked in to the station. We asked her if she could tell us how to use the phone. She saw us, 2 foreign women and a child with luggage gathered around the phone. She let us use her phone card and helped us dial. The hotel was open, spoke English and sent a taxi. By one o’clock that morning, we were in a very comfortable room with just the loveliest crisp clean sheets. We rearranged our travel plans and spent the day swimming in their beautiful pool and shopping in open markets in a town we otherwise would not have seen. That’s where I found all the best presents to bring home. The next evening, we caught the train we’d arrived to late for the night before and resumed our plans, feeling much refreshed.)

You see, the parts of travel that make the best memory are often the parts that aren’t planned —– so if your plans hit a snafu, don’t let disappointment get in the way of living fully in the moment you have. Remember, you will be in a place where you know the culture and language and where all the bathrooms are set up the way you are used too. Even if you have an adventure, you will know what to do or be able to get help without too much trouble.